Before the Rising
by Mmnk
Summary: A prologue to The Imperium of Suzumiya Haruhi by Julius Firefocht. Kyon's point of view of the last days of our reality. I'm also part of the project, so don't lit your torches. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, nor the main story background.

Author's note: This story is based from the fanfiction "The Imperium of Suzumiya Haruhi", by Julius Firefocht. It is a story based on the days before Haruhi changed the reality, Kyon's point of view.Kyon's point of view. By the way, the previously mentioned fanfiction is also here in this website. You might need to read it if you want to fully understand the story. And yes, I'm part of the project. Credits for Julius himself for revising spelling and grammar errors and editing.

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"Before the Rising" Chapter 1:

Again I was here, in the SOS clubroom.

If you were a normal student, you probably would be in your house, playing videogames, reading books or manga, or anything you like to do on your free time. Unless you wanted to go outside, where you could be chatting with friends, go to the movies, and have a laugh. Or maybe something more romantic like dating your girlfriend or boyfriend, treating him or her to dinner, or spending time on the beach…

…but not me, because I am not normal. No, wrong, actually I am. The abnormal ones are the people I met when I started studying in this school.

We were on summer break. The sun shining at us with an intense heat every single day made my ascension to the top of the hill a real pain. I don't think even Edmund Hillary could've handled this everyday hiking.

But, why was I on route to the school on summer break, you ask.

Simple: because our leader, Suzumiya Haruhi, wanted us to go to the SOS-Dan clubroom everyday. And refusing was not an option.

Anyways, like I was saying before, I was in the stolen clubroom, relaxing a bit with the new electric fan Haruhi bought us by "advertising" their store.

To my left, Nagato, reading a book with that blank face as always. Also, Haruhi, at the brigade chief desk, was surfing around the Internet. And finally, my little angel Asahina-san, preparing her superb sweet tea.

The only one missing was Koizumi. Weird… as he never arrives late. Of course, he wouldn't receive any punishments from our leader, because he was the vice-leader. Lucky bastard… not because his position, but for his immunity to punishments.

I see the door knob moving. Oh… talking about him, here he is, with that disgusting smile on his face… and his new fancy tabletop game.

Speaking of which, thanks to him and his poor playing skills, I was able to learn more than twenty tabletop games and play them quite well. Of course, I wouldn't say I was a professional tabletop game player. I only played with Koizumi and no one else. I believe if I played with Nagato, she would sweep the board quickly, killing all my forces, leaving me bankrupt or capturing my flag in a matter of minutes.

But this time… it was something different. He carried a book and a bag full of little plastic soldiers. I've gotta say that I haven't played with little plastic soldiers, while imagining their little wars. Never. Was he trying to teach me how to improve my imagination or something?

He sat down in front of me, dropping the bag of soldiers and the book on the table. I was able to read the title of the book.

Warhammer 40,000? Hmmm… doesn't sound familiar to me.

"I know. I wanted to try something different." He said with his typical smile. "A friend of mine taught me how to play this and I wanted to know if you or the others wanted to play too. He lent me these."

By "friend" you mean anyone in your group? I wondered. He nodded to me like he had just read my thoughts.

"Ooh! Cute little figurines!" Asahina said as she brightly stared at the bag of plastic soldiers. I've got to agree with that. They were really well made and painted.

Nagato was reading her book, as if nothing happened. However, Haruhi…

"Wow. That game looks a bit interesting. Is this like moving around these little soldiers that you command in the battlefield?" she asked. Koizumi nodded. Haruhi, you don't have to own little plastic soldiers to give orders. You have us, playing us around like those figurines. Now I understand how a chess pawn feels when he's about to be sacrificed.

"Hmm… reminds me of some game I played on the computer" Haruhi said. Of course! The Day of Sagittarius III! We had to command ships and lead them to victory! And the game's most avid player was an alien! Nagato, if you somehow dedicate your free time to playing games, you would become a professional in no time.

Speaking of which, she left her book and started looking at the tabletop game. I wonder if she's interested.

"So, you want to play?" Koizumi asked me. Well, I didn't have anything to do. So, show me the rules.

Koizumi pointed at the book. Wait… are you saying to me that I have to read this entire thing just to play a game?! I remember the day you brought a tabletop Role Playing Game, and you brought a heavy, physics-textbook-size book just to start with!

"Come on!" Koizumi encouraged. No thanks. If I observed a game first, I would probably understand it better than simply reading the rulebook.

Let'see… we have a book, and we don't have enough time to read it, nor four more copies of it to lend it to everybody so that we could play tomorrow. So who's to save the day? Nagato, of course.

Nagato moved her lips quickly and two seconds later she stood up and accepted to play with Koizumi. Yep, she learned everything about this game in just a matter of seconds.

The next two hours we saw Koizumi and Nagato playing hard on this game. I understood its rules a bit. Asahina asked every ten minutes about a rule she forgot. But Haruhi…

She was kind of speechless. I saw her eyes glitter at the time the figurines started to battle. She had her mouth open and drooled a bit.

This is not a good sign.

After Koizumi and Nagato finished their battle, with the alien standing victorious against the ESPer, Haruhi couldn't contain her excitement anymore.

"That was the best game I've ever seen! I wanna play too! Now!" she yelled. Now? Are you sure you understood everything?

"Yes I did! Come on Kyon, don't be an idiot! The rules were obvious!" she said to me. All right, if you're really sure of it… Koizumi, you're the fodder.

Koizumi just raised his shoulders and accepted a challenge from our leader and current commander of her figurines, Haruhi. And again, we watched for two hours the entire battle. With… Haruhi victorious?! Wow, she really has understood the rules.

And she asked for yet another battle… Yare yare… can't she get enough of it?

Another conquest in the name of Haruhiism later, we realized it was darkening outside. Koizumi was about to pack his game, but then…

"Hey, Koizumi, can you lend me your game please? I want to look further into it." Haruhi asked him. Oh boy…

Koizumi accepted, and the other four brigade members, that is, counting me, left the clubroom with an overexcited Haruhi.

"She is having fun, that's a good sign." Koizumi said. "My colleagues say that closed spaces are disappearing completely for the moment. I can't believe I achieved that much with just a tabletop game." Me neither, Koizumi.

"She's happy, but…I can't remember the game rules. Silly me!" she said, patting her head herself. You don't have to, little angel, just have fun watching!

"Suzumiya-san's emotion signs are stable" Nagato remarked. "However, I sense an increasing affection towards this entertainment." Well, you sure had fun with computers, right? Everyone will have an excessive affection for at least something in their lives, you know. This is one of the many human facts.

I wonder if she will put it off soon, like every single thing she did: The baseball, the movie, the band…

…she will put it off soon, right? …Right?!


	2. Chapter 2

"Before the Rising" Chapter 2:

Unfortunately, she didn't.

The next day at the SOS clubroom, I found, aside from a blank-face Nagato, a happy Asahina who was making tea, and the ever-smiling Koizumi, a Haruhi getting obsessed with this game. She was reading the book, staring at the figurines, and reading… another book? And I also noticed that there were more figurines than yesterday, but these new ones were from a different race.

"Hi Kyon" Haruhi said. Wait, no punishments, no bad-mouthing from you because I arrived last? This is not good.

Oi, Haruhi! Aren't you rushing a little too quickly into this game by buying more of this game's merchandise in such a short period of time?

"Nope!" she replied.

Yare yare… Then… why does it attract so much of your attention?

"The feeling of power… controlling everything…" she replied in Nagato style; that is, without even raising her head of the book to look at me. But, Haruhi, you do that in the real world! You are our leader, after all.

"Idiot! I couldn't just appear in the middle of a war and send the SOS brigade into it!" Haruhi yelled. That's true. At least she had some logic remaining inside her head.

"Kyon, have you learnt it already?" she asked.

More or less…

"Good enough, let's play." she ordered. What?!

I've gotta say she's one good player if she focuses her head in the battle. Two cups of Asahina's tea, a battle and a victory to Haruhi later, she ordered Koizumi to play one battle. Again, she swept the floor with him.

After that, she went straight to the computer for God knows what… or maybe I should say "Haruhi knows what"? Nevermind. I just wanted to relax, staring at my little angel time to time, while she prepared my third cup of tea.

The day passed, and we went straight home. I think Haruhi was eager to go back home. Oh well… less troubles for me.

The next day, though…

I arrived last again. And I found not one but two girls reading next to the window! Wow… Haruhi and Nagato sure look really cute in those poses… what am I saying?! Does Haruhi even read?! If so, since when?!

I looked at the covers of the books they were reading. Nagato chose a mystery novel, while Haruhi… yes… she was reading a Warhammer 40,000 novel.

Now that she was obsessed with the game, and now the background of the game, the clubroom felt really peaceful.

I sat down, face in front of the electric fan, eager to do some gimmicks on that machine. I just felt really happy for having a time like this, even with Haruhi inside the clubroom! Well, Koizumi, I've gotta thank you for bringing this game here. He just smiled and nodded.

He stared at the figurines, and then to me. No thanks, no more wars for me today. Maybe some… blackjack or poker… something to relax. He nodded and proceeded to pull the casino cards out of his pocket.

A pair of hours later, in the middle of a poker game, Haruhi closed the book with a loud thud, sighed and raised her head, looking at the ceiling, with her eyes closed.

"Man! The Space Marines' history was wonderful! The Emperor sure is a true leader! I wish I could have those same adventures as him, and have a lot of worshippers and the whole of humanity at my command. In fact… it sounds great, right? The Empress Suzumiya Haruhi, don't you think?"

As soon as she finished saying those words, the mood changed around the clubroom. The peaceful atmosphere was now gone.

In my calm state I forgot she possessed godlike powers to change reality as she pleased. Dammit! Now what!? She wouldn't desire to… do that… would she?

I looked at Koizumi… he was staring at Haruhi… but his smile had disappeared. Instead, he had a worried look on his face.

I looked at Asahina… she was on the verge of tears. But this time they were tears of desperation.

I glanced at Nagato, who raised her head from her book and blinked twice. Yes! Twice!!

Then, at the same time, all three of them stared at me. I knew they were saying in their minds: "Say something, idiot!"

Here we go to save the world again.

Haruhi, you do realize that everything on that franchise is fiction, right? It's just a sci-fi story created by one or many writers to add mood to the game.

No response.

Koizumi dropped his cards to the floor and for the first time ever, had a slightly panicked look. He looked like a person who just realized that he might have bitten off a bit more than he could chew.

Asahina fell to her knees, dropping the tray in the process, crying.

Nagato blinked thrice.

Oh snap.

Koizumi got really serious and said in a quiet voice meant for only Nagato, Asahina and me to hear: "Meet up after the brigade activities. Urgent."

For the rest of the meeting, I had to deal with a sense of impending doom.

After we left the clubroom and saw Haruhi walking another way, we reunited again, in the middle of the night and the street.

"This is a very serious matter." Koizumi said. "Suzumiya-san has desired another reality."

What? Like the game?

"Precisely. She desired with her heart to be the Empress of Mankind and master of the Space Marines." He spoke with a tone that resembled a father reproaching his son. "I'm afraid I'm informed of a closed space expanding very quickly."

Asahina was crying. "My superiors… are all… panicking. The timeline… is being… disrupted very badly."

"The reality change will soon take place. 12:00 AM." Nagato said.

Okay… so… another reality where Haruhi and I get trapped inside the school with shinjins. I guess my second kiss will also be with her, am I correct? If that's so, I should be honored with a medal for my bravery.

"Unfortunately, not this time. The closed space is too strong for us at the Organization to handle. And the reality change will soon take place with no intermediaries like the place you and Haruhi were at the last time." Koizumi replied.

What? So… it's inevitable?

"Correct." Nagato replied with a note of finality.

Asahina couldn't took it anymore and fell to her knees again, with her hands on her face, crying.

Damn you, Koizumi! If you hadn't brought that game to the clubroom, this would not be happening right now! I'm not blaming the game, but you for bringing it and Haruhi for getting obsessed with it, as she is the least likely person to get obsessed at something, be it sports, hobbies, studies or whatever! You have just opened the Pandora Box or invoked the devil! Agh!!!

"Yes. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have diverted Suzumiya-san from her routine. However, before this you were thankful to me for bringing that game." Yes, he was right… I thanked him… how stupid I was.

"We haven't got much time before the new reality materializes." Koizumi remarked. "The only thing we can do is to enjoy the last moments of this Earth. When the new reality arrives, from what I read on those stories, you won't get a single moment of peace, Kyon."

Sigh… I guess you're right. I should get into my house as soon as possible and spend time with my family. But wait, why are you only including me into this and not all of us?

"Like the last time, there's a possibility that Haruhi only wants to be with you in that reality. But, there's also a chance that she will desire the entire SOS brigade to enter with her." Koizumi explained.

So… it all comes down to Haruhi… again.

After a while, I left directly to my house. Man… I really wished that this world wouldn't end soon. There were some things in my life that I wanted to do before dying. For example, confessing my love to Asahina-san. Wait… I should've done that when I was there! Dammit!

I arrived at my house. My mom and my little sister were waiting for me for dinner. I guess my dad was working again on overtime. Dad, wherever you are, thanks for everything. I should've been a better son.

After my last supper, my sister ran upstairs to play, which left me and my mother all alone in the dining room. I walked to my mother and I hugged her, giving to her all my love as a son. I should've improved my grades to make her happy.

"What's the matter, Kyon? You're behaving like someone who has to depart to a faraway country." she chuckled. Oh mom, if only you knew everything that was happening to me!

After that touching scene, I went upstairs to see my little sister.

"Kyon-kun, you look worried. Cheer up!" she said. I couldn't hold back my emotions anymore and started hugging her, tears wetting her petite shoulder. Sis, thanks for everything. I'm not mad at you for inventing my nickname anymore, or when you grabbed my stuff without my permission. You made my life happier. I love you.

I've gotta say, she was really shocked when I said this to her.

"I… I love you too, onii-chan." she replied, hugging back. Oh my God! She called me onii-chan! I'm so happy! I hugged her even more tightly and cried even more.

After that, I walked into my room and dropped myself on my bed. I looked at my alarm clock. Half an hour before reality changed, possibly forever.

Now I knew how it feels to be those characters in the movies, where an asteroid is about to collide with Earth and the media told you that this was your last day on Earth.

I was having thousands of flashbacks, remembering each person I met in my life. From my hearts, I thanked them deeply. Even if they did idiotic or pointless things, I forgave them. Asahina, Nagato, Koizumi, Tsuruya, Taniguchi, Kunikida, Sasaki, Miyokichi, even Ryoko… mother, father, sister… good bye. I hope to see you somewhere in the new reality.

I looked at my clock. One minute before the event.

Good bye, world. I wish I could have stayed in you a little longer, so I could fulfill my dreams.

I looked for the last time at my alarm clock.

3…

2…

1…

Suddenly, a really strong earthquake started. The lights went off… a shutdown. I looked at the city from my window. A large, black wall of nothingness was consuming everything in its path, at a quick pace.

When it reached to me, I felt dizzy, very dizzy. I closed my eyes. My body felt as if I was in some sort of tornado. I started to feel nauseous.

I couldn't resist it anymore. I fainted while my body was being whirled round and round inside that tornado.


	3. Chapter 3

"Before the Rising" Chapter 3:

After that bizarre experience, you would've thought I was gone for good. Wrong.

I opened my eyes, and felt a bit of a headache. Some painkillers then would be good, but I was too dazed to think rationally.

I realized I was down on the floor, so I sat up slowly and started to look around.

The houses, the scenery, even the atmosphere had changed. They were more futuristic and kind of grim.

Reality truly had changed.

I stood up and I had the desire to search for Haruhi. She was the leader of everyone, or at least she will be.

"Looking for Haruhi isn't difficult at all." Someone said from my back. I recognize that voice…

I looked behind my shoulder and I felt warmth and happiness all over my body. I found Koizumi, Nagato and Asahina. Yes! Haruhi wanted them here! Thank you, Godde-ahem… They wore some futuristic yet gothic, military-styled clothes, only on different colors. I also realized that I wore those same clothes, too.

"Suzumiya-san is quite a celebrity here!" Asahina remarked. Oh, really?

"Affirmative. In this sector, Suzumiya-san is a recognized person." Nagato replied.

"In fact, she ordered us to ´drag you' immediately to the reunion." Koizumi said. Wait, what reunion? The SOS brigade again?

"You'll see" Koizumi smirked.

We walked to what seems to be the back of a high podium. We used some… elevator kind of thing to go up. When I reached the top, I finally saw Haruhi. It was impossible to miss her!

She was dressed in a beautiful gown of bright gold, decorated with a peculiar design that looked like an embossed "H". A golden laurel wreath of the sort worn by the ancient Caesars of Rome adorned her head. She looked positively radiant, as though glowing with power from within. Tearing my sight from the admittedly glorious image of Haruhi, I looked towards outside…

I saw hundreds of THOUSANDS of individuals standing there, looking at the podium. Never in my life had I ever saw that amount of people on one place! Not even in a concert! In fact, many of the people down there were downright huge compared to the average human, and they were wearing some kind of spacesuit or armour, just like those figurines Koizumi brought!

"About time, you slacker!" Haruhi yelled at me. Hey, I just woke up from that nausea-inducing change of reality.

She turned to the people and I noticed a small microphone disguised as a button on her gown.

"My followers! As I promised before, it is time to reunite the whole of Mankind into one sole Imperium, for the glory of Humanity! As a start to our noble undertaking, we shall begin by conquering the whole of Terra from the petty warlords that plague our beloved planet!" Haruhi yelled.

The people cheered wildly. The hottest idol singers back in our time could not hope for a better response from their comparatively paltry audiences.

"With our Adeptus Astartes and the latest technology on Terra under my command, our victory is assured!"

Once again, the people cheered her.

"And now, to you, I present my subordinates and, most importantly, your commanding officers!"

Yes, they cheered again. Louder and louder each time.

"Leading the Inquisition, we have Koizumi Itsuki! He shall seek out the alien, the heretic and the daemon that threaten our safety and our way of life!" Haruhi yelled, pointing at him. The crowd cheered now at Koizumi. He, in response, just waved graciously to them, since we were not equipped with any microphones.

"Leading the Imperial Navy, the powerful force of the skies, we have Nagato Yuki!" Haruhi yelled, now pointing at Nagato. The crowd cheered too, but she didn't do something in response.

"Leading the Adeptus Custodes, my personal guards, we have Asahina Mikuru!" Haruhi yelled, pointing at Asahina-san. She shyly smiled and waved hello to the crowd. The crowd cheered again, with the male members of the crowd apparently in a state of religious rapture. I know Asahina-san is cute and all, but this is overdoing it.

"And finally, leading the Imperial Guard, those ordinary men and women who want to fight for me and lead us to victory for the peace of mankind, we have Kyon!" Haruhi shouted with a particular intensity. Was she still mad at me for being late?

Wait a minute. What?! Me?! A leader?! Are you putting into my hands that many lives?! No w-

The crowd cheered at me. Wow. Ok, that really feels good. It bumped up my self-esteem to previously unreachable limits. Haruhi, at least you could've used my real name instead of my nickname. Arrgh! What am I thinking?! I shouldn't be a leader in the first place!

"I still have some items on my agenda left unsaid. They need to know without a doubt why we fight. Oh, of course the Space Marines are utterly loyal already, but I think the common men and women of the Imperial Guard require further illumination. We meet at the HQ later, as soon as this rally is over. Dismissed." Haruhi said to us. We took the floating platform again, this time to descend. "As you know, our plans have a bright future to all citizens, but that future must be safeguarded against…" Haruhi was saying until her voice was lost in the distance.

As we were walking to the HQ with Koizumi leading the way, escorted by huge gold-armoured warriors that I later learned were the Adeptus Custodes, I talked to them. Is she really the Empress now?

"In a way, yes. That's how the story starts." Koizumi said. "Though I don't know the Warhammer 40,000 story very well, I think it should be that way. Funny." What the hell's funny?

"She's playing god when she really is a god." Koizumi replied.

Trivial matters aside! Is there any way to change this reality back to our normal reality?

"The only way to do that is that she finds this reality boring and wants to go back to our original world. However, she is really obsessed about being a true ruler of this galaxy, so this might take time. I don't think even a century would suffice. Maybe not even a millennium." Koizumi said.

"Affirmative" Nagato said.

What? Not even a CENTURY?! Not even a MILLENIUM?! By the time she wants to go back, we will be dead, feeding roses!

"According to this reality's standards, highly ranked leaders and officers in military hierarchy will live longer." Nagato remarked.

"True." Asahina said.

Huh?

"You see, the leaders, the generals and all high ranked people are granted with one gift: extended life beyond any normal standards." Koizumi explained.

Extended… life?

"Of course, dying from unnatural causes such as from fatal wounds is still possible in this reality. However, since we're high ranked and everybody's going to be protecting us, we will technically live hundreds, or maybe thousands of years." Koizumi said. "However, as time goes by, we also age. So, to live longer, we might have the need to become cyborgs or something like that. Or maybe we are truly immortal, with our physical appearance forever youthful. No one knows for sure right now."

This is really ironic. I always wanted to live a long time… but in the normal reality. Here, where peace was not found, the last thing I wanted was an extended life to see the sufferings of the world.

I really feel like committing suicide right now.

"Don't say that!" Asahina yelled at me, looking like she was about to cry.

"Executing that command will greatly affect the course of this reality." Nagato said.

"Listen, Kyon. Don't even entertain the possibility to return any time soon. It's futile." Koizumi said, looking serious.

But… I really want to go back…

"So do us." Asahina said with homesickness apparent in her voice.

"This is our new story. An adventure that will last forever. Now we are the leaders of the human race in this galaxy and we are leading them to survival. We won't be able to return until Haruhi tires of this universe or until she deems our mission complete. In any case, you could take it as us lending a helping hand to the humans of this universe. Are you up to it?" Koizumi asked me, extending his hand out to me. I reluctantly shook it. Asahina and Nagato also reached out and enfolded our hands in a warm and reassuring grip. Indeed, it has been a while since the brigade was so…united?

If we succeeded, we would be able to return to our universe and save the people of this universe in the bargain. If we failed….I did not want to think of what would happen if we failed.

Without realizing it, I became Atlas. I had to carry a big weight on my back for the sake of the old Earth, my family, my friends, my memories, my feelings and the people of this galaxy. And it was a really big weight.

A weight called Empress Suzumiya Haruhi, and this… is my never-ending adventure.


End file.
